There is a small island rich in history and anecdotes, and treasuring natural singularities, between the Parana delta and the great estuary of the Plata.

It is the only island in the delta that was not formed by sedimentation, for it is part of a single rocky massif more than 1800 million years old, which also emerges in Brasilia and the Sierras of Tandil; and this is why it is the highest landmark in the zone at 27 metres above sea level in its centre.

The island was first sighted during the expedition of Juan Diaz de Solis, in the nascent of Rio de la Plata, at 37 kilometres of Tigre, and was baptised in honour of a crewman who died after setting foot on land.

The place was inhabited by Charrúa tribes, and it soon became evident that it was a strategic place, since the Empires of Spain and Portugal began to disagree upon it. In 1777, the treaty of San Idelfonso handed the zone, which included the Colony of Sacramento (current Paraguay), to the Spanish Crown.

Since 1516 it was believed that Rio de la Plata was the way towards the Pacific, and hence to the "new route" to the Indies; besides, it was thought to be the access to the silver mines of the Inca Empire too, and this is why the then denominated Mar Dulce (Fresh Sea) was later called Rio de la Plata (River of the Silver).

Martin Garcia Island was the scenario of bloody battles between the nationalist Argentine forces and those of the Spanish Crown. Eventually, on March the 15th of 1814, the island became part of the Government of Buenos Aires, and the great deed of the national sailors and combatants, led by Admiral Guillermo Brown, would justify its jurisdiction over it.

In 1850, Don Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888) pretended to organise what would be known as the Southern United States or United States of Rio de la Plata, integrated by Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, and established his capital on Martin Garcia Island, which he named Argiropolis or City of the Plata.

Between 1870 and 1920 approximately, the island was the port of entrance for all immigrants, especially Europeans, who were subjected to a sanitarian control; if any serious and contagious disease were detected, they had to go on quarantine on the island, not only the ill person but the entire crew and passengers of the arriving ship.

By those times father of the American Modernism, Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario (1867-1916), resided on the island. He finished his famous poem "Triumphal March" in the house of a friend doctor where he lived, which up till today still keeps the first drafts.

But Martin Garcia Island is also renowned for having been a place of reclusion; in 1765 the Spaniards installed a naval and military prison for the deserters of the Buenos Aires Battalion. Later, in 1896, when the island belonged no more to the Spanish Crown but depended directly on the Government of Buenos Aires, a regular penal began to operate until 1957.

The island held four known Argentine presidents for political reasons, where they remained imprisoned for a while.

The Treaty of Rio de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay, which established an imaginary line in the centre of Rio de la Plata, to be shared by both countries, was signed in 1973; although, clarifying for good that Martin Garcia Island belonged to Argentina.

A national decree declared the island a Historic Site, and in 1974 it was declared National Reserve of Flora and Fauna, a space where approximately one third of the bird and plant species of the country coexist.

The island, which housed up to 4000 inhabitants when the Argentine militia occupied it, came to host approximately 180; leaving as a result many inhospitable houses surrounded only by nature. These few inhabitants are currently exempt of paying taxes and electric light, and only those running a business in their homes pay a fee.

The island is a historic place and therefore none of the existing constructions can be demolished, neither can commercial establishments, which could alter the quietness and physiognomy of the natural place, be built. There are no lots or houses for sale, because the entire island belongs to the Province of Buenos Aires.

You need a full day to visit the island, in view that just one ship weighs anchor at Tigre and returns by the end of the day.

Some spots worth of visiting are the former laboratory where Doctor Angel Mazza, discoverer of the vaccine for the Chagas disease, worked; and the bakery, which dates back to the year 1913, famous for its handmade sweet bread.

It is currently hard to live on the island without having a steady job in the administration, in the prefecture or as a ranger.

The most prone to adventure can not only enjoy the quietness of the island, but spend a night on it too, setting to the river from Tigre, a trip just three hours long. You can camp with no problem in a determined sector on the island to be in direct contact with nature.

Nowadays, and due to sedimentation, Timoteo Dominguez Island, which belongs to Uruguay, has expanded and connected to Martin Garcia Island, which belongs to Argentina.

WEATHER
Its average temperature is of 17º C, with an average humidity of 81%; there is a yearly rain of 1000 mm. These characteristics converge to have the vegetation of the island composed of sandbanks, gallery forests and the typical vegetation of the delta, for being the last wag of the tail of the missionary forest. This exceptional microclimate makes of the island an ecological reserve at Buenos Aires' doorsteps.

HOW TO GET THERE
The ships of Cacciola S. A. set out to the river on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays at eight in the morning. The service includes a guided tour, a snack on arrival, and lunch in the dining room of the Hercules Frigate, name of the flagship commanded by Admiral Guillermo Brown in the year 1814, on which he challenged the naval Spanish forces.

PLACES OF INTEREST

25 de Mayo Batteries
It was one of the defensive emplacements that were built in the year 1868 during the presidency of Domingo F. Sarmiento, in the midst of the War of the Triple Alliance (1865-1870), when Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina were fighting against Paraguay.

Guillermo Brown Plaza and Civic Centre
The plaza honours the Irish Argentine seaman and forefather of the nation, Guillermo Brown (1777-1857), considered the founder of Argentina's Navy during the emancipation of the Spanish Crown. He freed the island in the year 1814, and since then it became part of the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires. The Civic Centre, where the postal service and other administrative offices work, is adjacent to this important plaza.

Historic Museum
It surged due to the initiative of the islanders with the collaboration of the Argentine Navy; personal objects of important historical characters of the country are exhibited in it; besides documents, photos from the colonial period, weapons and diverse elements.

House of the Doctors of the Lazaretto
It operated until 1915, and the victims of the epidemics that devastated Buenos Aires were quarantined in it, along with European immigrants arriving in the country. The director of this entity was Luis Agote (1864-1954), who in 1914 thought up a procedure to preserve human blood without coagulating to be used in haemoid therapy (such as blood transfusion). Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario (1867-1916) lived in the vicinity during his stay on the island.

Former Penal
A naval and military prison was installed on the island in 1765 in order to restrain the deserters of the Buenos Aires Battalion. Later, when the number of prisoners increased, they were used on construction works on the island, and to extract rocks destined to pit the streets of the capital; it worked as such until the year 1957.

Lighthouse
It was installed in the year 1881, during the first presidency of Julio Argentino Roca (1843-1914), a natural from Tucuman, to alert sailors about the island, and to guide them across the canals of the mouth of the Uruguay River and into the Rio de la Plata; it is out of order since 1927.

Park of the Heroes
It was raised to honour the Argentine and Uruguayan heroes, and you can walk across an extensive grove, reed fields and white sandbanks, according to the diverse trails that run through the park. The "Monument to the Heroes" is in it, and the "Monument to the Treaty of Rio de la Plata", signed in 1974 between Argentina and Uruguay, is on the coast.

ACTIVITIES

Flora and Fauna Watching
In the ecological reserve situated on the island you can appreciate deer and otters, the latter are called coipos and can be seen even in plain daylight. You can also watch snakes and lizards in the zone so-called Chinese barrio neighbourhood.

The birds, which stand out for their shape, colour and singing, are really worthy of admiration; the white heron, the neotropical cormorant and the snail kite, in the zone of the coastal wetlands, and the greenish and the silver beak amongst the land birds, jut out.